This is a picture of my husband (a Bulgarian National) and my wedding which took place in an 800-year old monastery in a village in central Bulgaria. My counterpart and his wife (the couple holding the crowns over our heads) were the Best Man and...
After visiting my host family for Christmas 2004, my now-husband and I were thinking about what to do for New Year's Eve. He remembered his grandfather was from a village nearby, deep in the Balkan mountains, and we decided to catch the bus there...
This was my next door neighbor. Every morning she would tend to her garden, and after a long day of hard work, she would take an evening ride on her motorcycle with her son.
Grandmothers (babi) play a huge role in a family household. Often, the grandmother is the main family member that takes care of the children, cooks and takes care of the overall household chores. It is very common for many generations to live under...
In the town square of our training site, Panagyurishte, there is an enormous moument of Buglaria's version of Paul Bunyan. His name is Bori Mechkata (Bear Fighter). On beautiful days, we would gather here for language training class. After climbing...
Host community; Pre-service Training (PST); Children
Alex, a fellow Volunteer, is helping the kids from the local orphange at our training site sweep the debris off the asphalt so they can create a space to play soccer. They prefer playing soccer on asphalt as opposed to grass.
My first year in Peace Corps, I lived in a tiny little forest village of 1,000 square feet. It was charming, but lonely, particularly during the long, dark winter months. This was taken on one of the few days when the sun was out.